If the grantor is sole beneficiary (i.e., there is no living named co-beneficiary or residual beneficiary) of the trust, the trust is revocable and
therefore a resource, regardless of the wording, i.e., some trusts state that the
trust is irrevocable.
The Regional Office of General Counsel has determined that a named residual beneficiary
can include: a named living individual; the term "issue" (if living and the issue of the grantor); and/or the State of New York (for Medicaid reimbursement payments made on behalf
of the beneficiary; the wording will vary). The inclusion of those terms means that
the grantor is not the sole beneficiary.
If the grantor is the sole named beneficiary and the trust also indicates an unnamed beneficiary, e.g., "heir," "heirs at law," "next of kin," "distributee," "estate,"
"issue" (if there is no living issue of the grantor), it is revocable, and therefore
considered a resource. You may refer this trust to the Center for Programs Support
for review.
NOTE: An irrevocable trust created
on or after January 1, 2000 will generally be considered a
resource for SSI purposes unless the
trust meets one of the exceptions described in SI 01120.203
(e.g. Medicaid Trust or Undue Hardship).